


Thankfully Not A Thief

by afteriwake



Series: In So Few Words [100]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Amused Sherlock, Background Case, Embarrassed Molly Hooper, Established Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Happy Ending, POV Molly Hooper, Post-The Final Problem, Robbery, Sherlock Being Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Fluff, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Kissing, Sherlock Is A Bit Not Good, Suspicions, Suspicious Molly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 08:32:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13783707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: Lab supplies are missing, and Molly thinks she knows who is taking them: Sherlock Holmes. But the truth is completely not what she expected.





	Thankfully Not A Thief

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NSquared](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NSquared/gifts).



> So this was inspired by a post by **rudesciene** that went “ _Is that a test tube in your pocket or.. HEY, stop stealing lab supplies!_ ,” to which **NSquared** replied with “ _Just imagine Molly being all usually awkward and then accidentally solving the mystery of the missing lab supplies XD_.” I had the post sitting in my drafts for ages and just finished it as a late entry for Day 7 of Molly Appreciation Week ("Free For All").

“I know, Mike, I keep checking the inventory and I can’t figure out why the supplies keep disappearing.” She paced in the short distance her corded office phone would let her move in front of her desk. In a time when budgets were tight and getting tighter, this sudden disappearance of supplies was troubling. And while, so far, it wasn’t making for any major changes in protocol about how people used the supplies or were allowed access to them, that could change.

Stamford knew she was close to Sherlock, and she knew this phone call was to see if, perhaps, he could help them entrap the person filching the supplies so that it would stop. She _knew_ this, and she was hesitant.

Because, in all honesty, she was almost absolutely sure Sherlock was the thief.

Or _a_ thief. Perhaps not the only one. But she noticed new equipment at Baker Street, and it was the same brand that they used at Barts. She knew he had paused in taking cases to help John with Rosie, but with the destruction of Baker Street in the explosion, he had lost everything. No cases meant no money to replace the top tier scientific equipment he’d had.

She just...didn’t want to accuse him because she was happy. She was blissfully absolutely _happy_ for the first time in ages. But if he was taking the supplies and it had gotten to the point it had caught Stamford’s attention, then she had to put an end to it.

The conversation continued for a moment and then she ended it, biting her lower lip. How was she going to tell the man she loved that he had to stop taking what wasn’t his?

A noise from the supply closet in the morgue got her attention, and she made her way out. If Sherlock was filching things now, well, now was the time to stop him. She saw Sherlock there through the door, looking at the supplies, and she decided to do a bit of flirting to soften him up.

“Is that a test tube in your pocket or...” She paused as she saw Sherlock was not alone, and the new nurse in the cardiology unit was there. Sherlock handed him a syringe and for some reason, that infuriated Molly. “Hey! Stop stealing lab supplies!”

The syringe clattered to the ground and both men looked at her, eyes wide. “I can explain, Molly,” Sherlock said.

“You best explain, because the path lab is losing a small fortune in supplies,” Molly said, crossing her arms and glaring.

“It’s not just the path lab, Dr. Hooper,” the nurse said. “But Mr. Holmes solved the case. We just didn’t have enough syringes upstairs since our whole supply was taken and he was helping me make sure I had the right ones from your supply.”

“Wh...what?” Molly asked, confused.

“Apparently there was a drug-addled doctor, Dr. Richardson, who was selling supplies in bulk as opposed to falsifying prescriptions because it was less risky,” Sherlock said. “He’d been taking too much from the larger departments and then telling nurses and his fellow doctor that there was more than enough in pathology and you were fine with that.”

She knew Dr. Richardson by reputation and really, she wouldn’t put it past him. “And now?” she asked, her tone softening.

“Cardiology is shorthanded and that’s not a unit that should be,” the nurse said sheepishly. “Mr. Holmes said just this once, we could borrow from the path lab, but no longer.”

“And he was right,” Molly said, giving him a small smile. “Take whatever you need to make sure the cardiology department runs smoothly but _please_ have the head of your department talk to Mike Stamford. He has no earthly idea what’s going on.” The man gave her a wide smile and went back to collecting what he needed while Molly motioned for Sherlock to come forward. “I hate to say it, but I thought you were filching the supplies.” Sherlock gave her a blank stare. “The new equipment at Baker Street?”

“Oh,” he said. “No, it was payment for taking on this case. I have a few more goodies I’ll be getting a bit later, but they’ll be in my lab upstairs. I just brought some of the supplies I was given that I would prefer to have at home to the flat.” He gave her a smile that bordered on a smirk. “Was your attempt at flirtation a way to butter me up?”

“I was going to offer you something more enticing than lab equipment,” she said with a smile, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Perhaps a specialist registrar to help with experiments?”

“Mmm, I’d rather have a certain specialist registrar join me for dinner tonight,” he said, placing his hands on her hips. “I’ll even make sure my properly acquired lab equipment is put away, perhaps for takeaway from Angelo’s?”

“I can’t think of a better date,” she said as her smile got wider and his turned into something much less resembling a smirk. She leaned up and kissed him softly, not caring there was someone in the supply cabinet, and when he kissed her back she was glad her maddening consulting detective was not a thief.

Well...aside from stealing her heart, that was.


End file.
